Many people who are fed up with doctor visits and prescription drugs have turned to alternative medicines.
Melanie Beer, massage therapist at The Muscle Specialist on Jackson Street, offers remedies out of her home and office.
"I can tell by a vibration patients give out, by looking into their eyes or by doing muscle testing what may be wrong with them," she said. "The one thing about alternative medicine is that its proactive. I recommend that my patients do the foot work and read books about it.
"I may be able to recommend a herb that patients can take. For example, if they come in with high blood pressure, then I can recommend a herb for that. I have four brands of herbs I dispense."
If a patient comes in with lower back pain, then it is usually a sign that something is wrong with their kidneys, Beer said, adding that the pituitary gland in the brain, as well as the kidneys, controls high and low blood pressure.
Beer charges $45 for a one-hour massage and $25 for 30 minutes. Nutritional consultations are $55. She also has her own Web site, www.naturallyyours.info, with a disclaimer that it is just for educational purposes and not for medical problems.
Beer said there are two balances in the body. One is protein and the other is yeast.
Brenda Ramsey, a certified nutritional consultant in Ridgeville, said her clients use herbs to kill yeast, for energy or blood sugar, to build enzymes and sometimes use flower essences, which are good for emotions.
"A lot of people are taking herbs because they are not getting the answers from their doctors and come to me," she said.
At Yorktown Natural Foods, 6800 W. Kilgore Ave., Yorktown, owner Jim Wallen also sells herbs, with a wide selection of bulk teas and capsules.
Wallen first became interested in herbs more than 30 years ago because he was often sick as a child. He had illnesses ranging from scarlet fever, mumps, measles and chicken pox. He commonly suffered from ear infections the most, having at least three or four every winter from first-sixth grades.
His mother's health was also not good. Doctors did not seem to be doing them much good, and they finally decided there had to be something else they could do.
Finally, his mother went to the library to look at books. They began taking Shaklee vitamins and, later, natural foods in 1975.
Wallen said he is in good health since he began taking herbs. His mother also is in good health, despite having had a stroke 12 years ago.
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